In fact, Man City's strength is almost evenly distributed across each player, only with the return of Kevin De Bruyne and soon Haaland will also recover from injury, this will increase the strength of Man City's front line and it is very likely that in every match when these two players are played, the number goals per game will increase. However, the most crucial thing is Kevin De Bruyne because he is the mastermind behind the Man City attack. Even though he missed half the season, as soon as he played he immediately showed his class. Even though it's only been two matches, he has shown his level again, even Kevin De Bruyne came on as a substitute in two matches and immediately felt the impact for Man City. Maybe wait a month so he can return to appearing consistently like the last few years so it is not impossible that they can defend the EPL title this season. However, in my opinion, it is impossible to maintain the Treble Winner because of the UCL League this season, because Real Madrid has made very big changes after bringing in Jude.
Expected Goal (XG) Manchester City is still below the Liverpool Expected Goal (XG) until the 20th match.
Manchester City recorded 40.4 (xg) while Liverpool reached 44.9 (xg).
Manchester City's strength is very balanced and Liverpool are also no different from them, but the effects of Kevin de Bruyne and Haaland make their strength very felt. If the two Manchester City players are ready to perform 100%, yes, the Manchester City attack line is very strong and makes Manchester City opponents need to prepare a special strategy to stop them.
UCL is hard for Manchester City to defend the defending title because the team will be a competitor Man. City are classified as very strong from them such as PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Not just Real Madrid, but the other two teams that I have mentioned are eager to lift the UCL Trophy this season with all the strengths they have.